Tour of the Metropolitan's Palace

Today, I slept late again. I stayed up reading my magazine until 3, but I slept in. I had what has become a typical breakfast here: some yogurt, a little bit of cereal or muesli for crunch, and then either half a banana or some strawberries. At home, I am bad with breakfast; I usually have coffee and a banana or a Special K or Nutrigrain bar while driving to work. Too often I just have coffee. So, I am proud that the slower pace of living here has resulted in healthier breakfasts. It is the most important meal of the day, you know. 

I did some emailing and then showered and met Anna at 3 so we could print off her language evaluation in Mykola’s office. I find myself taking pictures of Chernivtsi, just because I know my time here is winding down.

Then Ivanna came to meet us and we walked to the main part of the campus. I wore my grey flats and got blisters on my feet. I do not know how these women walk these uneven streets in such high heels. My only rationale is that they are perhaps walking less if they take marshrutkas or the trolleybuses that I don’t take.

Here we are!

I enjoyed the tour of the university a lot. I learned that Josef Hlavka (the H is silent), who had attended the Vienna Art Academy, won the competition to design the structure that was eventually built between 1864 and 1882. He was 29 when he won the competition. He went on to design over 100 buildings in Europe. He modeled much of this structure after the Alhambra in Spain. I was in the Alhambra in 1992, and even though I was young I do remember being there and what it looked like. The complex consisted and still does consist of 3 buildings. The building on the left, if you are facing the center building, was the monastery, and the seminary church is on the right. Because of its unique history, today, Chernivtsi National University is the only state university in Ukraine that continues to operate a seminary.

The university opened on September 30, 1875 and was named after the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Josef. He did not attend the opening of the university ( I asked), but Prince Leopold was. 1875 was the 100th anniversary of Chernivtsi’s inclusion in the A-H Empire. The university was run under the patronage of the Metropolitan of Bukovina, a high ranking religious position in the Orthodox church. In 1944, when the Soviets took over this area, it ceased to serve as the residence of the Metropolitan and 12 years later, the complex became university property.


During the days of the A-H Empire, there was a statue of Franz-Josef and a statue of Empress Maria Theresa, a previous ruler of the A-H Empire, on campus. When the Romanians took over after WWI, they were removed. In 2003, the statue of Maria Theresa was found, without a head or hands, buried on the property that used to be the Bukovina Museum. In 2007, 10 sculptors from different areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire gathered together in Vienna to sculpt 10 copies of the statue. 7 of them are in the entrance to this building.

I enjoyed seeing the Marble Hall.

The ceilings and floor in the red room are 135 years old and the wallpaper is silk.

The Metropolitan's library was burned in 1944. The room was renovated in 2000.

In 1886, the railway opened here, 4 years before Kyiv had a railway stop. In 1897, the city developed a tram network, only 9 years after London developed its. Electricity came to this area in 1912. This city was thriving during its days as part of the A-H Empire.

There is a botanical garden here that is 135 acres, but it is closed to the public and even students have to have special permission to walk through it.

The seminary church was built in 1878. From 1944-1991, it served as a museum, because the Soviets closed it. Since 1991, it has resumed its primary function as a training church for seminary students. We saw several priests-in-training, lighting candles, and going through prayers, while we were there.

We walked around and took some more photos after the tour.

Then we went to have coffee at the place where I went with Ivanna and Anna yesterday. Then I took some pics of Chernivtsi.

I cooked baked chicken, vegetables and rice for dinner. I mailed my essay to Vitaliy in the Fulbright office in Kyiv. Now I am drinking some delicious, hot lychee tea. I picked up a few packets in the hotel in Poland. I’m going to have to find some of this in the US.

Heading to sleep...